Delivering your AMI-based product using AWS CloudFormation

Verify that the template is launched successfully through the AWS CloudFormation console in all AWS Regions enabled for your product. You can use the TaskCat tool to test your templates.

If you are creating a single-AMI product, the template must contain only one AMI.

AMIs must be in a mapping table for each Region. The AWS Marketplace team updates the AMI IDs after they're cloned. Your source AMI must be in us-east-1 and the other Regions can use placeholders. See the following YAML example.

Mappings: 
  RegionMap: 
      us-east-1: 
          ImageId: ami-0123456789abcdef0
      us-west-1: 
          ImageId: ami-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
      eu-west-1: 
          ImageId: ami-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
      ap-southeast-1: 
          ImageId: ami-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
          

AMIs included in your CloudFormation template must either be the AMI of the product you are publishing or an AWS-managed AMI such as the latest Amazon Linux 2. Don't include any community AMI or AMI owned and shared by you or any other third-party. To use an AWS-managed AMI, use public parameters in AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store instead of hardcoding AMI IDs. For example, within your CloudFormation template where you specify the AMI ID, you use a dynamic reference ImageId: '{{resolve:ssm:/aws/service/ecs/optimized-ami/amazon-linux-2/recommended/image_id}}'.

Build templates so that they do not depend on the use in a particular Availability Zone (AZ). Not all customers have access to all AZs, and AZs are mapped differently for different accounts.

You can include dependencies such as Lambda functions, configuration files, and scripts with your AMI. For more information, see Step 1: Create a serverless application.

If you're building a clustered solution using an Auto Scaling group, we recommend that you account for a scaling event. The new node should join the running cluster automatically.

Even for single-node products, we recommend using an Auto Scaling group.

If your solution involves a cluster of multiple instances, consider using placement groups if you want low network latency, high network throughput, or both among the instances.

If your solution involves Docker containers, you must incorporate the Docker images into the AMI.

For ease of review by the AWS Marketplace team and transparency to the customer, we recommend that you add comments in your UserData section.

Input parameters to the template must not include the AWS Marketplace customer's AWS credentials (such as passwords, public keys, private keys, or certificates).

For sensitive input parameters such as passwords, choose the NoEcho property and enable stronger regular expression. For other input parameters, set the most common inputs along with appropriate helper text.

Use AWS CloudFormation parameter types for inputs where available.

Use AWS::CloudFormation::Interface to group and sort input parameters.

Don't set any default values for the following input parameters:

Ensure that the default SSH port (22) or RDP port (3389) isn't open to 0.0.0.0.

Instead of using the default virtual private cloud (VPC), we recommend that you build a VPC with appropriate access control lists (ACLs) and security groups.

Enable access to the customer's AWS environment by using an AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) role to call AssumeRole from the AWS Security Token Service.

Set IAM roles and policies to grant the least privilege and enable write access only when absolutely necessary. For example, if your application needs only S3:GET, PUT, and DELETE operations, specify those actions only. We don't recommend the use of S3:* in this case.

Illustrate a standard deployment on AWS.

Depict logically where resources are deployed. For example, resources like Amazon EC2 instances are in the correct subnet.

Use the most current AWS product icons for each AWS service deployed through the AWS CloudFormation template. To download the current set of architecture icons, refer to AWS Architecture Icons.

Include metadata for all the services deployed by the AWS CloudFormation template.

Include all networks, VPCs, and subnets deployed by the AWS CloudFormation template.

Show integration points, including third party assets, APIs and on-premises, hybrid assets.

Diagrams must be 1100 x 700 pixels in size. Maintain original diagram proportions without stretching or cropping.

CloudFormation template or templates

The estimated infrastructure price for the default configuration of each template

An architectural diagram and architectural metadata

Completed product form (available from the AWS Marketplace Management Portal)

Solution title

Solution short description

Solution long description

For CloudFormation templates (up to 3 per solution)

Review of the CloudFormation template, AMI, and metadata for the AMI and CloudFormation template

Publication of your CloudFormation template to AWS Marketplace products